The Conferences 5.27–6.10

“It must be known, however, that the order of battles is not the same in all of us, because, as we said, we are not all attacked in one way, and each of us must take up the struggle of the contests according to the kind of war by which he is principally troubled; so that one must first fight against the vice placed third, another against the fourth or fifth. And so, according as the vices themselves hold the chief place in us and as the manner of the assault requires, we too must arrange the order of our battles; by which the outcome of victory and the triumph that follows will bring us to purity of heart and the fullness of perfection.” Thus far Abba Serapion discussed with us the nature of the eight principal vices. He laid open so clearly the kinds of passions hidden in our hearts, whose causes and relationships we had never before been able to know or distinguish, though we were being laid waste by them every day, that we seemed to see them set before our eyes as in a mirror.

In the region of Palestine, near the village of Tekoa, which had the honor of producing the prophet Amos, there is a very vast wilderness stretching to Arabia and the Dead Sea, into which the streams of the Jordan flow and fail, and the ashes of Sodom spread over a very wide expanse. In it monks of the highest life and holiness, who had lived there a very long time, were suddenly killed by roving bands of Saracen robbers. We knew that their bodies had been seized with such veneration by the bishops of that region and by the whole people of the Arabs, and laid among the relics of martyrs, that countless people from two towns rushed together and declared a most serious contest, and their dispute went as far as a clash of swords over the holy plunder, as they fought with each other in pious devotion over which of them had the juster right to possess their burial and relics, some boasting of the nearness of their dwelling, others of kinship by origin. Nevertheless, troubled by our own offence, and by that of some brothers who were no little scandalized on this score, and asking why men of such merit and such virtues had been killed in this way by robbers, and why the Lord had allowed so great a crime to be committed against his servants as to hand over men admired by all into the hands of the wicked, we went sorrowfully to the holy Theodore, a man outstanding in the practical life. He lived in the Cells, a place situated between Nitria and Scetis, five miles from the monasteries of Nitria and separated from the desert of Scetis, where we lived, by eighty miles of wilderness. When we complained to him about the killing of these men, wondering at God's great patience in permitting men of such merit to be killed in this way, so that those who by the weight of their holiness ought to have freed others from such a trial could not even snatch themselves from the hands of the wicked, or why God had allowed so great a crime to be committed against his servants, the blessed Theodore answered.

“This question usually troubles the minds of those who, having little faith or knowledge, think that the merits of the saints, or the rewards which are not paid in the present but stored up for the future, are repaid in the brevity of this temporal life. But we who do not hope in Christ in this life only, lest, according to the apostle, we be more miserable than all men (since, receiving none of the promises in this world, we would also lose them in the future through this unbelief), ought not to go astray after their opinions. Otherwise, not knowing the judgment of the true definition, we may be shaken, wavering and fearful, in temptations when we see ourselves too handed over to the same things, attributing to God either injustice or neglect of human affairs, which is wicked even to say, because he does not protect holy men who live rightly in temptation, and does not repay the good with good things or the wicked with evil in the present. Then we would deserve to be condemned with those whom the prophet Zephaniah rebukes: ‘Who say in their hearts, The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil’; or at any rate we would be found with those who are said to blaspheme God with such complaints: ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and such please him; or else, Where is the God of justice?’ adding also that blasphemy which is described in what follows: ‘He is vain who serves God; and what profit is it that we have kept his commandments and walked sorrowfully before the Lord? So now we call the arrogant blessed, since those who work wickedness have grown rich, and have tempted God and been saved.’ Therefore, so that we may escape this ignorance, which is the root and cause of this most perverse error, we must first know what is truly good and what is evil; and so at last, holding on these matters not the false definition of the crowd but the true definition of the Scriptures, we shall not be deceived by the error of unbelieving men.”

“All the things that are in this world are of three kinds: good, evil, and indifferent. We must therefore know what is properly good, what is evil, and what is indifferent, so that our faith, fortified by true knowledge, may remain unshaken in all temptations. Nothing, then, at least in human affairs, is to be believed to be the principal good except virtue of soul alone, which, leading us by sincere faith to divine things, makes us cling continually to that unchangeable good. And on the contrary, nothing is to be called evil except sin alone, which, separating us from the good God, joins us to the evil devil. Indifferent things are those which can be turned to either side according to the disposition and will of the one who uses them, such as riches, power, honor, bodily strength, health, beauty, life itself and death, poverty, weakness of the flesh, injuries, and other things like these, which can serve either the good side or the bad according to the character and disposition of the one who uses them. For riches often serve the good, according to the apostle, who commands the rich of this world to give readily, share with the needy, and lay up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that through them they may lay hold on the true life; and according to the Gospel they are good for those who make friends for themselves by the unrighteous mammon. Again they are twisted to evil when they are heaped up only to be hoarded or for luxury, and are not dispensed for the use of the needy. How indifferent power, honor, bodily strength, and health are, and suitable for either side, is easily proved from this: many of the saints in the Old Testament had all these, and, placed in the greatest riches, the height of dignities, and bodily strength, are known to have been most acceptable to God. And on the other hand, those who misused them and twisted them to the service of their wickedness were not undeservedly either punished or destroyed, as the book of Kingdoms often shows happened. That life itself and death are indifferent is attested by the birth of the holy John and of Judas. For the life of the one was so profitable to himself that his birth is said to have brought joy to others as well, according to the words, ‘And many will rejoice at his birth.’ But of the other's life it is said: ‘It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ Of the death of John and of all the saints it is said: ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints’; but of Judas and those like him: ‘The death of sinners is very evil.’ How advantageous bodily weakness sometimes is, the blessedness of that poor man Lazarus, covered with sores, shows. Though Scripture records no other merits of virtue of his, for this alone, that he bore poverty and bodily weakness most patiently, he deserved to possess Abraham's bosom by a most blessed lot. How useful and necessary poverty, persecutions, and injuries are, which the opinion of the whole crowd counts as evils, is also clearly proved from this: holy men not only never wished to avoid them, but, either seeking them or bearing them bravely with the greatest virtue, became friends of God and obtained the wages of eternal life, as the blessed apostle sings: ‘Therefore I am content in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong, because power is made perfect in weakness.’ And therefore those who are exalted by the greatest riches, honors, and powers of this world are not to be believed to have obtained the principal good from them, which is defined as being in the virtues alone, but something indifferent. For just as these things are found useful and advantageous to the righteous who use them rightly and as needed (for they produce the occasion of good works and fruits in the eternity of that life), so they are useless and harmful to those who misuse their wealth, and bring about the occasion of sin and death.”

“Keeping these divisions fixed and immovable, then, and knowing that nothing is good but virtue alone, which comes from the fear and love of God, and nothing evil but sin alone and separation from God, let us now carefully examine whether God ever allowed evil to be brought upon his saints, either by himself or through anyone else. You will certainly never find this anywhere at all. For no one could ever bring the evil of sin upon another who was unwilling and resisted, but only on one who took it into himself through sloth of heart and a corrupt will. Indeed, when the devil, using all the engines of his wickedness, wished to bring this evil of sin upon the blessed Job, and not only stripped him of all his possessions but, after that grief of bereavement, so terrible and unexpected, at the death of his seven sons, loaded him with a most grievous sore from the top of his head to the soles of his feet and with unbearable torments, he could by no means inflict on him the stain of sin, because, remaining immovable in all things, he gave no consent to blasphemy.”

Germanus: “We often read in the holy Scriptures that God created evils or brought them upon men, as in this: ‘For there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other, forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil’; and again: ‘Is there evil in a city which the Lord has not done?’”

Theodore: “Divine Scripture sometimes uses ‘evils’ loosely for afflictions, not because they are properly evil by nature, but because they are felt as evils by those on whom they are brought for their good. For when the divine judgment speaks to men, it must speak in human words and feelings. For the wholesome cutting or burning which a physician kindly applies to those who are rotting with the infection of ulcers is thought an evil by those who bear it. The spur is not pleasant to a horse, nor correction to one who does wrong. All disciplines too are felt as bitter for the present by those who are being trained, as the apostle says: ‘All discipline for the present seems to be not of joy but of sorrow; but afterwards it yields the most peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it’; and: ‘Whom the Lord loves he corrects, and he scourges every son whom he receives. For what son is there whom the father does not correct?’ So ‘evils’ are sometimes put for afflictions, according to the words: ‘And God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it’; and again: ‘For you, Lord, are merciful and compassionate, patient and very merciful, and repenting of evils,’ that is, of the tribulations and hardships which you are compelled to bring upon us according to the deserts of our sins. Knowing that these are useful to some, another prophet, certainly not begrudging their salvation but taking counsel for it, prays: ‘Add evils to them, Lord, add evils to the glorious of the earth.’ And the Lord himself says, ‘Behold, I will bring evils upon them,’ that is, griefs and devastations, by which, wholesomely chastened in the present, they may be compelled at last to return and hasten to me, whom they despised in prosperity. And therefore we cannot define these as evils in the principal sense, for to many they serve for good and produce the causes of eternal joys. And therefore, to return to the question put forward, all the things thought evil which are inflicted on us by enemies or by any others are not to be believed to be evils, but indifferent. For they will be found to be not such as the one who inflicted them with a furious mind thinks them, but such as the one who bears them feels them. And so when death has been inflicted on a holy man, it must not be believed that evil has been inflicted on him, but something indifferent, which, though it is evil for a sinner, becomes for the righteous rest and release from evils. ‘For death is rest to a man whose way is hidden.’ And so the righteous man suffers no loss from it, because he has endured nothing new; but what was bound to come to him by the necessity of nature he received through the wickedness of an enemy, not without the reward of everlasting life, and paid the debt of human death, which must be paid by an inescapable law, with the richest fruit of suffering and the wage of a great reward.”

Germanus: “If, then, the righteous man who is killed not only suffers no evil but even obtains the reward of suffering, how will the one be called to account who did no harm by inflicting death, but did good?”

Theodore: “We are discussing the proper nature of good and evil and of what we have called indifferent, not the disposition of those who commit these things. For the impious or unjust man will not go unpunished because his malice could not harm the righteous man. For the endurance and virtue of the righteous man profits for reward not the one who inflicted death or torments, but the one who patiently received what was inflicted on him. And so the one will rightly be punished for the savagery of his cruelty, because he wished to inflict evil; and the other nevertheless suffered no evil, because, bearing temptations and pains patiently by the strength of his soul, he made what was inflicted with evil intent serve for progress to a better state and for the blessedness of eternal life.”

“For the patience of Job gained a reward not for the devil, because he made him more illustrious by his temptations, but for Job himself, who bore them manfully; nor will Judas be granted immunity from eternal punishment because his betrayal served the salvation of the human race. For it is not the outcome of the work that must be considered, but the disposition of the one who works. Therefore this definition must be kept immovably in us: that no evil can be inflicted on anyone by another, unless he has brought it upon himself by the sloth and faintheartedness of his own heart. The blessed apostle confirms this same judgment in a single verse: ‘We know that all things work together for good for those who love God.’ For in saying ‘all things work together for good,’ he includes everything alike, not only what is prosperous but also what is thought adverse. The same apostle describes elsewhere how he passed through them, when he says: ‘By the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, through glory and dishonor, through ill repute and good repute, as deceivers and yet true, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich,’ and the rest. So all the things reckoned prosperous and said to belong to the right hand, which the holy apostle designated by the words ‘glory’ and ‘good repute,’ and also those thought adverse, which he clearly expressed by ‘dishonor’ and ‘ill repute’ and describes as being on the left, become for the perfect man the armor of righteousness, if he bears with greatness of soul what is inflicted on him. For, fighting through these, and using as weapons the very adversities by which he is thought to be attacked, fortified by them as by bow, sword, and very strong shield against those who bring them, he gains progress in his patience and virtue, winning the most glorious triumph of constancy from the very weapons of the enemy that are deadly in intent. He is neither puffed up by prosperity nor cast down by adversity, but always walks on a level path and by the royal road, never moved from that state of tranquillity as if to the right by the coming of joy, nor driven again as if to the left when adversities assail and sadness prevails. ‘Great peace have those who love your name, and there is no stumbling block for them.’ But of those who change with each chance that befalls them according to its character and variety it is said: ‘But the fool changes like the moon.’ For as it is said of the perfect and wise, ‘All things work together for good for those who love God,’ so it is declared of the weak and foolish: ‘All things are adverse to the foolish man.’ For he neither profits from prosperity nor is corrected by adversity. For it belongs to the same virtue to bear sad things bravely and to govern favorable things with moderation; and it is quite certain that one who is overcome in either of them can bear neither. Yet one can be more easily overthrown by prosperity than by adversity. For adversity sometimes holds men back and humbles them even against their will, and by most wholesome compunction makes them sin less or corrects them; but prosperity, lifting up the mind with soft and ruinous flatteries, lays low those made secure by the success of their good fortune with a greater ruin.”

“These, then, are those who are figuratively called in the holy Scriptures amphoterodexioi, that is, ambidextrous, as Ehud in the book of Judges is described as being, who used both hands as the right. We too shall be able to possess this virtue spiritually if, by good and right use, we make both what is prosperous and reckoned as on the right, and what is adverse and called the left, belong to the right side, so that whatever is inflicted may become for us, according to the apostle, the armor of righteousness. For we see that our inner man consists of two parts and, so to speak, two hands, and none of the saints can be without this left hand of which we speak; but perfect virtue is distinguished in this, that by good use it turns both into the right. And to make what we say more plainly understood: the holy man has a right hand, namely spiritual successes, in which he stands when, fervent in spirit, he masters all desires and lusts; when, safe from every diabolical assault, he rejects or cuts off the vices of the flesh without any labor or difficulty; when, raised above the earth, he looks upon all present and earthly things as empty smoke and a vain shadow and despises them as soon to pass; when, in ecstasy of mind, he not only longs most ardently for the things to come but also sees them more clearly; when he feeds more effectively on spiritual contemplations; when he sees heavenly mysteries opened to him more brightly; when he sends up his prayers to God more purely and eagerly; when, inflamed with the ardor of the spirit, he passes with all eagerness of soul to the invisible and eternal things, so that he no longer believes himself to be in the flesh. He likewise has a left hand, when he is entangled in the whirlwinds of temptations; when he is inflamed with the heats of incitement toward the desires of the flesh; when he is kindled by the fire of disturbances to the fury of anger; when he is assailed by the elation of pride or vainglory; when he is pressed down by the sadness that works death; when he is shaken by the engines and assault of acedia; and when, all spiritual fervor withdrawn, he grows numb with a kind of lukewarmness and unreasonable grief, so that not only do right and fervent thoughts desert him, but psalm, prayer, reading, and the seclusion of the cell all become loathsome, and all the instruments of virtue grow distasteful with an unbearable and foul disgust. When a monk is assailed by these, let him know that he is pressed on his left side. Whoever, then, in the things we said belong to the right side is not puffed up at all by the creeping in of vainglory, and in those of the left side, fighting manfully, does not fall into despair, but rather takes up from the adversities the weapons of patience for the exercise of virtue, will use both hands as the right, and, made a victor in both conditions, will win the palm of victory from the left state as much as from the right. We read that the blessed Job deserved such a palm. He was crowned by the right hand when, as the wealthy and rich father of seven sons, he offered daily sacrifices to the Lord for their purification, wishing to show them not so much as his own but as accepted and familiar to God; when his door was open to every comer; when he was the foot of the lame and the eye of the blind; when the shoulders of the sick were warmed by the fleece of his sheep; when he was the father of orphans and the husband of widows; when he did not rejoice even in his heart at the ruin of his enemy. And again by the left side he triumphed over adversities with a higher virtue, when, bereaved of his seven sons in one moment, he was not consumed with bitter grief as a father but rejoiced in his Creator's will as a true servant of God; when, from rich become utterly poor, from wealthy naked, from strong wasted, from renowned and glorious base and despised, he kept his strength of soul uncorrupted; when finally, stripped of all his property and wealth, he became a dweller on the dunghill, and, like a most severe executioner of his own body, scraped the flowing pus with a potsherd and, plunging his fingers into the depths of his wounds, drew out clods of worms from every part of his limbs. In all these things he did not slip through despair into any blasphemy, nor did he murmur against his Creator in anything. Rather, not at all terrified by so great a weight and bitterness of temptations, he tore and cast away the very garment that alone remained to his body from all his former possessions, which alone could be saved from the devil's devastation because he was wearing it, and added a voluntary nakedness to that which the most savage robber had inflicted. The hair of his head too, which alone of the remnants of his former glory had remained untouched, he cut off and threw to his tormentor; and, cutting away even what the raging enemy had left, he exults over him and mocks him with that heavenly voice: ‘If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord, shall we not bear evil things? Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done. Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ I might rightly call Joseph ambidextrous too, who in prosperity was dearer to his father, more dutiful to his brothers, more acceptable to God; and in adversity was chaste, faithful to his master, most gentle to his fellow prisoners, forgetful of injuries, kind to his enemies; and toward his envious brothers, who as far as lay in them were his murderers, he is found not only kind but even generous. These, then, and those like them are rightly called amphoterodexioi, that is, ambidextrous. For they use both hands as the right, and passing through the things the apostle lists they say alike: ‘By the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, through glory and dishonor, through ill repute and good repute,’ and the rest. Of this right and left hand Solomon speaks in the person of the bride in the Song of Songs: ‘His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.’ Though she indicates that both are useful, yet she puts the left under her head, because adversities ought to be subject to the ruling part of the heart. For they are useful only for this, to exercise us for a time, train us for salvation, and make us perfect in patience. But she wishes the right hand to cling to her, to cherish and preserve her for ever in the saving embrace of the bridegroom, and to be bound to him inseparably. We shall be ambidextrous, then, when neither plenty nor want of present things changes us, and the one does not drive us to the pleasures of harmful slackness nor the other draw us to despair and complaint, but, giving thanks to God alike in both, we reap equal fruit from favorable and adverse things. Such the true ambidextrous teacher of the Gentiles testifies he was, saying: ‘For I have learned to be content in whatever state I am. I know how to be humbled, and I know how to abound; everywhere and in all things I have been instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things in him who strengthens me.’”